Quote from: The
Unmarried Mother in our Society, Ch
23 "Shall I look at my baby?" by Sarah B. Edlin
(1956):
"In
a professional agency such as ours. . . We experimented
with permitting the girl to make her own choice in the
matter of seeing or not seeing her baby. We observed -
and so did the adoption agency with whom we work very
closely and with whom we share our thinking - that in
the main, the girl who did not see her baby was much more
disturbed after her return home, than the girl who had
seen her child and had returned to Lakeview with it for
a week or two.
Although
much evidence was available to determine that preventing
a mother from seeing her child was psychologically harmful
to both mother and child, and although the mother was the
sole legal guardian of her child until she signed a consent,
it became routine practice to forbid eye contact between
mother and child. ... to prevent bonding.
Most
mothers so psychologically brainwashed into believing their
baby did not belong to them, did not know they had a right
to ask, were too afraid to ask, or, did ask to see her child
only to be ignored or berated for her audacity.
Each
hospital complied with the arrangement decided upon by the
maternity home to which they were affiliated.
The
Anglican Adoption Agency who controlled the girls at Carramar
Home for Unmarried mothers decided that the mother could
see her child at least once, but was forbidden to hold it
or feed it, and then only after she had signed the consent.
By the early 1970's the mother was permitted to hold
her baby for a few minutes, but only whilst heavily guarded
by a team of nursing staff or someone else in authority.
"When
I gave birth in 1980, my son was taken away from me at
birth and I was not allowed to see him. I was put into
the gynocology ward, far down the hallway from the maternity
ward where he was kept in a nursery. On about the 3rd
or 4th day after he was born, I finally got up enough
courage to ask if I could see him. I was also able to
finally walk by that time. The nurse seemed surprised
but told me that I could see him and told me where the
ward was.
"I
shuffled down the hallway, still in pain from a very large
episiotomy that extended even part-way down my leg, and
I found the nursery. I was able to see him lying there
in his basinette, but nurses carefully stood watch on
me to make certain that I did not touch him or pick him
up." - Maxine W.
